Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method comprising: receiving messages from at least two inter-domain switches, wherein each switch is a member of at least one virtual local area network and a plurality of physical loop free network topology domains; abstracting a logical domain, wherein the logical domain comprises the inter-domain switches and at least one logical link that connects the inter-domain switches, each logical link representing one of the plurality of physical loop free network topology domains; and eliminating loops formed by the logical links in the logical domain.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein eliminating loops formed by the logical links in the logical domain comprises running a Spanning Tree Protocol on the logical domain.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein abstracting the logical domain further comprises mapping a logical port of the logical domain to a physical port associated with the same inter-domain switch and the same loop-free network topology domain.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein mapping a logical port of the logical domain to a physical port comprises mapping a logical port of the logical domain to a physical port based on the forwarding path from the inter-domain switch that the logical port belongs to another connecting inter-domain switch.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein eliminating loops formed by the logical links in the logical domain comprises blocking one or more logical ports.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein abstracting the logical domain further comprises flooding messages through the physical loop-free network topology domains to determine the logical ports to be blocked.
7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising blocking the physical ports that are mapped to the blocked logical ports.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein eliminating loops formed by the logical links in the logical domain further comprises determining which logical link to block based on a predetermined criteria when more than one logical link may be blocked to break a loop.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein each loop-free network topology domain is assigned an identification number and determining which logical link to block based on a predetermined criteria comprises determining which logical link to block based on which loop-free network topology domain has the higher identification number.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the physical loop free network topology domains are maintained loop free in accordance with a Spanning Tree Protocol.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the physical loop free network topology domains are maintained loop free in accordance with an Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching Protocol.
12. A network comprising: a plurality of physical loop free network topology domains; inter-domain switches, wherein each inter-domain switch is a member of at least two of the plurality of physical loop free network topology domains; and a logical domain abstracted from the inter-domain switches and logical links connecting the inter-domain switches, wherein each logical link represents one of the plurality of physical loop free network topology domains.
13. The network of claim 12 , wherein the logical domain is a loop free domain achieved in accordance with a Spanning Tree Protocol.
14. The network of claim 12 , wherein the inter-domain switches include at least one physical port and the logical domain includes at least one logical port, wherein each logical port is mapped to a physical port associated with the same loop-free network topology domain.
15. The network of claim 12 , wherein the physical loop free network topology domains are maintained loop free in accordance with a Spanning Tree Protocol.
16. The network of claim 12 , wherein the physical loop free network topology domains are maintained loop free in accordance with an Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching Protocol.
17. An article of manufacture comprising: a machine accessible medium including content that when accessed by a machine causes the machine to: receive messages from at least two inter-domain switches, wherein each switch is a member of at least one virtual local area network and a plurality of physical loop free network topology domains; abstract a logical domain, wherein the logical domain comprises the inter-domain switches and at least one logical link that connects the inter-domain switches, each logical link representing one of the plurality of physical loop free network topology domains; and eliminate loops formed by the logical links in the logical domain.
18. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein a machine accessible medium comprising content that when accessed by a machine causes the machine to eliminate loops formed by the logical links in the logical domain comprises a machine accessible medium comprising content that when accessed by a machine causes the machine to run a Spanning Tree Protocol on the logical domain.
19. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein a machine accessible medium comprising content that when accessed by a machine causes the machine to abstract a logical domain further comprises a machine accessible medium comprising content that when accessed by a machine causes the machine to map a logical port of the logical domain to a physical port associated with the same inter-domain switch and the same loop free network topology domain.
20. The article of manufacture of claim 19 , wherein a machine accessible medium comprising content that when accessed by a machine causes the machine to eliminate loops formed by the logical links in the logical domain comprises a machine accessible medium comprising content that when accessed by a machine causes the machine to block one or more logical ports.
21. The article of manufacture of claim 20 , further comprising a machine accessible medium comprising content that when accessed by a machine causes the machine to block the physical ports that are mapped to the blocked logical ports.
22. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the physical loop free network topology domains are maintained loop free in accordance with a Spanning Tree Protocol.
23. The article of manufacture of claim 17 , wherein the physical loop free network topology domains are maintained loop free in accordance with an Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching Protocol.
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October 24, 2006
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